


odds are that we will probably be alright

by WishingTree



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, the others all make appearances as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-02-28 01:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13260543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingTree/pseuds/WishingTree
Summary: With the gang’s newly discovered assortment of powers and abilities, it’s only natural that there be an adjustment period while they learn how to control them. Everyone’s doing their best, but in the case of Nico and Karolina, it turns out there’s one slight complication:They’re total disasters at it.orNico and Karolina try to learn how to control their powers, and they learn a couple more things along the way.





	odds are that we will probably be alright

**Author's Note:**

> Okay as I was writing this I was laughing to myself like a loser so I hope you guys enjoy it too! I love my girls even when they're both giant messes.
> 
> Title from 'Odds Are' by Barenaked Ladies;

With their newly discovered assortment of powers and abilities, it was only natural that there would be an adjustment period while they all learned how to use them properly.

Chase had built his own gloves, and figured out how to handle them fairly quickly. Molly learned how to better use her strength and expect the naps that came with exerting herself, and Gert's control over her dinosaur was simple.

Since they all had it more or less handled, that left Nico and Karolina, and it turned out there was just one slight problem for them.

They were total disasters at it.

 

 

 

“Ow! Shit!” Nico exclaimed from the other room, and then came a muffled thump that had Karolina standing from her seat on the couch.

“Nico?” 

There was a pause before Nico called out, “Hey, can you come in here for a second?” 

Karolina made her way down the hall and stuck her head through the door, not immediately spotting Nico anywhere and taking a tentative step inside. “…Nico?” 

“Up here,” came Nico’s defeated voice, and Karolina tilted her head back to see her pressed flat against the ceiling, one hand holding the Staff and the other covering her eyes.

The sight startled a laugh out of Karolina, and she hastily covered her mouth when Nico cracked one eye open to glare at her between her fingers. “Please just – get me down.” 

Karolina giggled again and stepped fully into the room, crossing her arms as she tilted her head up to face her. “And how do you expect me to do that? You’re the one with the magic staff.”

Nico huffed. “I tried, I don’t know how to undo this. And you can fly, so get your ass up here and pull me off the goddamn ceiling.”

“Oh, right!” Karolina perked up, wondering how she’d forgotten that detail. She shut the door behind her and pulled off her bracelet, tossing it towards Nico’s bed and sighing happily at the warm feeling that washed over her as she lit up. She took a moment to sink into the feeling, and when she looked up again she saw Nico watching her with an unreadable expression on her face, though she quickly cleared her throat and looked away. 

Shrugging, Karolina took a deep breath and furrowed her brow, closing her eyes and focusing on lifting herself off the ground. It was a feeling she still wasn’t used to, having her insides get so fluttery, but she was quickly growing to love it every time her feet left the floor.

“Hello,” Karolina greeted when she floated up to Nico’s level, playfully reaching out to tweak a lock of Nico’s hanging hair.

Nico rolled her eyes but still gave her a smile, and Karolina grinned back. After a long moment, she startled when she realized all she was doing was holding her gaze.

“Um, so how do you…” Karolina hurriedly broke eye contact and floated to the side so her shoulder was pressed against the ceiling next to Nico’s. “Is it – ”

Nico glanced at her again before staring down at herself, shrugging helplessly. “Maybe if you just…”

“Should I…?”

She reached out awkwardly to lay her hand on Nico’s arm closest to her, stretching her other arm across Nico’s body to wrap it around her waist in a hesitant motion.

Glancing down showed that they were directly above Nico’s bed, and Karolina nodded. “Okay,” she breathed, craning her neck back. She tried to drift downwards, but it felt like Nico was being pulled in the opposite direction by a magnet. She put a little more force into it, pressing her knee against the ceiling for leverage and trying to tug her down, and when that yielded no results she pulled back, adjusting her hold and taking a deep breath. Making sure her grip was tight, she closed her eyes and then let herself fall, using her weight to put some extra force behind the pull.

Unfortunately, either Nico’s spell had just worn off or she had severely underestimated the amount of power she had just used, because they dropped much faster than she had intended.

They crashed down on the mattress, and the wind was knocked out of her when her back hit Nico’s bed, Nico landing directly on top of her.

“Are you okay?” Karolina wheezed, blinking to clear her eyes and then stilling when she saw how close Nico’s face was, glowing in the reflection of her lights. Her breath hitched as she realized the position they were in, Nico pressed against her with her arms propped up on either side of her head and Karolina’s hands on Nico’s hips. Their legs were intertwined and Karolina was left paralyzed, physically able to feel her brain short-circuiting. All they did was stare at each other, so close that Karolina could feel Nico’s breath on her face, and then the door opened.

They both startled at seeing Gert standing there, looking mildly shellshocked, and Karolina thought she heard herself let out a squeak.

“Okay, well, now I know why it’s taking you guys so long,” Gert remarked, her expression quickly clearing to make way for something decidedly more smug. “Sorry for interrupting.” 

Karolina turned her head to meet Nico’s wide eyes again, and then they both scrambled to untangle themselves.

“No, Gert, it’s not what – ” 

“We weren’t doing anything – ” 

“I was on the ceiling! And – ” 

“We fell, and then – ”

“No, no,” Gert held up a hand, shaking her head as she reached for the doorknob again, “You guys do… that, and I’ll just go wait in the car with the others. Okay, yeah… Bye!” 

Then she was gone, the door closing with a click behind her, and Karolina finally managed to get out from under Nico, limbs flailing.

Now sitting side by side on the edge of the bed, Karolina stared down at her still-glowing knees, feeling the heat from her burning cheeks and unable to face Nico. The silence hung between them, not quite awkward but a shade too heavy to be comforting.

“Um, thanks for… getting me off the ceiling,” Nico finally said, fingers playing with one of ties on her shirt.

“Yeah, anytime,” Karolina told her, still not looking up as she rubbed the back of her neck.

They fell silent again, and out of habit Karolina reached for her wrist to play with her bracelet, only remembering she wasn’t wearing it when she touched bare skin.

“Oh yeah,” she heard Nico murmur to herself as she shifted on the bed to reach for something behind them, and then her hand appeared in the corner of Karolina’s eye, holding out her bracelet. “Here, you’re going to need this.” 

“Right, thanks,” Karolina said, taking it and snapping it on. “Okay, so we should…” she hooked a thumb towards the door, and Nico nodded vigorously, standing and brushing herself off. 

“Yeah, let’s do that.” 

Karolina followed her, rotating her bracelet around her wrist, and if Nico reached back to grab her hand on the way out, Gert never needed to know.

 

 

 

“Karolina?” Nico called out, knocking on the door of Timely’s one remaining bathroom. Karolina had disappeared at least ten minutes ago, and somebody had just told the barista that there was water overflowing into the hallway.

“Is she okay?” Gert asked from behind her, and Nico waved a hand at her to wait.

Molly went up on her tiptoes to try and see over Alex’s shoulder. “What’s going on?” she piped up, using one hand to adjust her hat.

Worried, Nico knocked again, shifting from foot to foot to try and avoid the water leaking under the door. “Karolina?” 

All she could hear was rushing water, and Nico made her decision. “Okay, back up,” Nico told the others, pulling two pins out of her hair and crouching down in front of the door. She handily picked the lock, letting out a small triumphant noise when she heard it click open, and stood up with a satisfied grin on her face, wiping the pins off on her shirt before sticking them back into her hair.

“Badass,” she heard Alex comment behind her, and she glanced behind her.

“…Amy taught me,” she said after a moment’s hesitation. She turned away, unsure what had prompted her to share that detail.

Shouldering the now unlocked door open, Nico stopped in shock at the sight that greeted her.

A panicked looking Karolina was standing in front of a destroyed sink, water spraying over her head and gathering on the floor of the tiny bathroom. Her clothes were drenched, her hair plastered against her forehead, and Nico felt the others pressing in behind her back.

“Shit, what did you do?!”

“It was an accident!” Karolina exclaimed, a guilty look on her face. “I was washing my hands and accidentally knocked my bracelet loose, and then I… blasted the sink. Accidentally. I wasn’t ready to light up!” She held her hands up imploringly, and Nico could see she was clutching her bracelet in one hand as opposed to having it attached around her wrist like usual.

“Chase, go make sure no one comes down the hall and sees this mess,” Nico ordered, stepping forward and gesturing at Karolina to step out of the spray. Karolina willingly moved towards her, and Nico picked up her hand to help her reattach her bracelet.

“I guess we should make a point to stay on your good side, if this is what you do _accidentally_ ,” Gert said faintly, electing to stay in the doorway away from the spraying water.

“Okay, let me see,” Alex said, blinking water out of his eyes and pushing his glasses up as he shifted around them towards the sink, “If we just…” He crouched and reached forward to mess with something Nico couldn’t make out, angling his face away from the spray, but he didn’t seem to be having much of an effect.

“Here, let me do it!” Molly pushed past them and went to Alex’s side. She reached under the sink as well, and there was a loud crack before the water finally stopped. “There!” she said brightly, popping back up to her feet and apparently uncaring that she was now soaked as well.

It was quiet without the spray of water, and they all stared at what remained of the tiny bathroom with varying degrees of horror.

“We should go,” Nico stated finally, staring blankly at the destruction around them with one hand still clutching Karolina’s wrist, and she felt the others nodding around her before they piled out the door.

“God, Timely is going to hate us!” Chase complained as they hustled towards the entrance, doing their best to look inconspicuous even though Karolina, Molly, and Alex were dripping wet. “We’re totally going to be banned for life if they figure it out.”

“I think the destruction of property might be higher on our list of concerns,” Gert told him, giving a wide grin to the businessman coming through the door as they stood aside to let him pass.

Nico only shook her head and put a hand on Karolina’s back to usher her through. She was shaking minutely, and Nico squeezed her arm as they hurried towards their cars.

“You okay?” she asked, and Karolina nodded, pulling her wet shirt away from her body.

Distracted for a reason that was completely unrelated to that, Nico promptly tripped over her own foot, and she staunchly ignored the way the others were laughing at her as she opened the door of Karolina’s car.

 

 

 

Nico looked up when she heard Karolina make a disappointed sound from the other side of her bedroom where she was going through a pile of freshly washed clothes. “What’s up?” 

“This used to be such a nice green,” Karolina said dejectedly, waving a sweater at Nico. Spotted with bleach stains, it did look pretty ruined, and Nico winced sympathetically.

“Maybe it doesn’t look so bad when you’re wearing it?” Nico tried.

Karolina shrugged and pulled it on over the tank top she was wearing. It got tangled above her head, and Nico found herself fighting a smile as she watched Karolina wrestle with it, her mussed hair appearing as she finally succeeded in poking her head through.

Pulling the sweater down and spinning to face the mirror, Karolina put her hands on her hips and sighed. “Yup. Looks terrible.” She blew a lock of hair out of her face and moved to take it off, but Nico jumped to her feet as she was hit by an idea. 

“Wait! I have my mom’s staff!” She hurried to her bag and pulled it out, pleased that she could actually help solve one of Karolina’s problems. “I’ll just use it to change the color back.” 

“Oh, cool!” Karolina was watching her with bright eyes, and Nico faltered where she was raising the Staff. Karolina had seen firsthand all the ways Nico had messed up while casting spells, but now she was trusting her anyways.

Shaking her head, Nico pricked her finger and turned towards Karolina. “ _Change the colour,_ ” she stated strongly, planting the extended Staff, and it brightened, light crackling around the head before a beam shot towards Karolina.

Nico blinked as it faded, and she looked up to see Karolina cracking her eyes open. Unable to stop herself, she startled at the sight that greeted her, jumping with one hand flying to her hair as she immediately began regretting everything.

“Did it work?” Karolina asked curiously, looking down and tugging at the sweater. 

“Well, I mean… it did – do… um, I…” 

Seeing as the sweater clearly hadn’t been affected, Karolina looked up at her with a worried slant to her eyebrows, eyeing the barely contained panic on Nico’s face.

“Nico,” Karolina said slowly, “…Please don’t tell me my hair is green.”

Still holding the Staff out in front of her, Nico cringed and slowly lowered it, tucking it behind her back. “Okay,” she said weakly, using her free hand to hide part of her face. “It’s totally not green.”

Karolina narrowed her eyes, and Nico shrugged helplessly. It really wasn’t green. Karolina turned to see for herself in the mirror, and Nico squeezed her eyes shut.

Her hair wasn’t green.

“Nico!”

It was blue.

 

 

 

“What does it feel like?” Lying with her legs thrown over the arm of the couch with her head resting on Karolina’s lap, Nico’s question was quiet. “When you light up?” 

“Hm?” Karolina murmured distractedly, slowly carding her fingers through Nico’s hair. “What?” 

Nico was holding Karolina’s left hand in both of hers, playing with her fingers, but at the question she reached out and tapped at Karolina’s bracelet. “Does it feel… I don’t know, nice?” 

“Oh,” Karolina said, realizing what she meant, “I… yeah, I guess it does.”

They were all spending a quiet Friday evening in the Wilders guesthouse, mostly scattered around the room keeping to themselves, and Karolina kept playing with Nico’s hair.

“You can take it off, if you want,” Karolina offered shyly, flexing her wrist. Nico craned her neck back to look at Karolina, and Karolina gave her an encouraging smile.

Nico’s eyes lit up eagerly, and she touched her fingers to the surface of the bracelet for a moment before snapping it open, letting out a small gasp as it fell away.

Karolina lit up, her fingers glowing brilliantly around the dark strands of Nico’s hair, and she realized that she was watching the way the light played off of Nico’s captivated face instead of herself like she usually did. At the same moment, she registered that Nico had caught her staring and jumped, simultaneously jostling her hand out of Nico’s and knocking the bracelet out of her grip. It hit the couch cushions and rolled away, but Karolina paid it no mind.

The room was suddenly very quiet, and she noted that she also had the attention of the others, all sitting around the room and watching her with awed expressions.

A warning beep came from Alex’s phone sitting on the coffee table, and when he checked it he got to his feet. “My phone’s about to die, I’m going to get my charger. Anyone need anything from the house?” The rest of them murmured their dissent, and he knocked his fists together and gave them a half smile, turning towards the door. “Be right back.” 

Karolina bobbed her head and turned back around to face Nico, but almost as soon as he had set foot outside Alex was back, slamming the door behind him.

“Karolina, cut out the lights. My parents are headed towards us,” he told them urgently, arms held out, and everybody froze in horror.

“They’re coming,” he hissed frantically, and Gert was on her feet with Chase, rushing to the door in a vain attempt to stall as if Karolina’s light wasn’t clearly visible through the windows.

Karolina shoved at the couch cushions desperately, trying to catch a glimpse of her bracelet, but she couldn’t remember where it had fallen. Sitting up, Nico joined her, checking the floor under them, but when she popped up empty–handed, Karolina really started to panic.

Then her vision suddenly went dark as Nico grabbed the thick throw blanket off the back of the couch and tossed it over her head, forcing her down onto the cushions and smothering her with it.

There was a chorus of hellos as the door clicked open, and Karolina stilled, feeling Nico yank the blanket down over her legs, and she hurriedly pulled her feet up so they would also be covered.

“Hey kids,” Karolina heard Catherine Wilder say, the click of her heels stepping inside. “Everybody doing okay?” 

“Where’s Karolina?” Geoffrey Wilder’s gruff voice asked, and Karolina cringed, her muscles locking up where she was hiding.

“She just… went to the bathroom,” Gert said haltingly, and Karolina thanked every deity that she could think of that the couch was facing away from the door. Nico pressed her palm against Karolina’s side, probably in an attempt to keep her still, but Karolina trembled at the contact, biting her lip and squeezing her eyes shut.

“Alright, well, you guys know the drill. Let us know if you need anything,” Catherine told them warmly, and Karolina hoped they were turning to leave.

A few seconds passed, and then Karolina heard the click of the door opening and closing, but she didn’t dare move until Nico pulled the blanket down to reveal her head. 

“We didn’t think that through,” she stated plainly, and Karolina grinned sheepishly, staying curled up under the blanket.

“No we did not.”

 

 

 

Nico looked up from where she was tying her boot when Karolina crouched and poked her repeatedly in the arm.

“You want to see a trick I learned?” Karolina asked, looking at Nico with such excitement that she would have agreed to just about anything.

Nodding, Nico watched with rapt attention as Karolina snapped off her bracelet and stood tall, colors swirling into existence. She held her arms out, an expression of concentration on her face, and then there was a bright flash of light. Karolina was thrown backwards, limbs flying every which way until she collided with the bookshelf on the other side of the room, and Nico flinched, eyes widening in alarm.

“Karolina!” Nico cried out, running over and hurriedly clearing away the books that had fallen on top of her. Karolina was wincing as she slowly sat up, shifting books off of her lap, and she blinked a few times before her eyes finally came into focus. Nico sighed in relief, letting her hands fall to her shoulders. “What was that?”

“It was supposed to be a force field,” Karolina said with a put out expression on her face, and Nico laughed, smoothing her hair back before pressing a quick kiss to her forehead.

“Okay, no more tricks inside, alright?”

All Karolina did in response was blush and nod, and Nico’s eyes widened when she realized what she had just done. Pulling her hands back, she bit her lip and tried to smile as she backed away, but her heel caught on one of the books and she tripped backwards, landing flat on the floor.

Karolina was immediately hovering over her, a worried expression on her face, and Nico sighed.

 

 

 

“I think I’m getting sick,” Nico grumbled from where she was sitting on the floor of Karolina’s living room, idly running her fingers over the Staff of One and setting it down in her lap. As if to prove her point, she sneezed immediately, and Karolina laughed.

“Yeah?” 

Nico shivered and raised a pointed eyebrow at the tank top Karolina was wearing. “It’s totally not cold in here, and yet I’m freezing.” 

“Come on, let’s go get you a sweater,” Karolina suggested, going over and sticking her hand out to pull Nico to her feet. “I might even have a black one somewhere in my room.” 

Nico huffed good-naturedly and reached out to grasp her hand, using her other one to collect the Staff of One as she stood.

As soon as their hands touched, three things happened at once: Nico sneezed, Karolina’s ears popped, and then they were standing in the middle of the front entryway, Karolina’s back knocking against the banister.

“What the hell?!” she exclaimed, staggering on her feet. Nico fell back with a thump, blinking rapidly, and Karolina rushed to help her up, gripping her arm. She saw Nico open her mouth to respond, but instead she sneezed again. The Staff in her hand glowed and Karolina’s vision narrowed, her surroundings getting replaced by the kitchen in a snap.

“Make it stop!” Karolina yelped as she clutched Nico tightly to avoid stumbling into the fridge, surprised at its proximity.

“I don’t know how!” Nico cried out, scrunching up her face in an attempt to stave off the next sneeze.

It worked for about half a second, and then she sneezed three times in quick succession. Karolina gripped her arm tightly, reeling as they teleported from the pantry to the bathroom to her bedroom.

“Okay, I think I’m done,” Nico exhaled stuffily, rubbing at her nose, and Karolina cautiously tried to relax until Nico froze up again, eyes widening in alarm.

“No, no, Nico – ” 

She sneezed one more time, and then they were outside in the backyard, teetering at the edge of the pool. Unfortunately, they didn’t get the chance to try and catch their respective balances, because they were already falling, hitting the water with a splash.

Karolina surfaced, coughing up water, and she immediately reached for Nico, flailing around in a similar state nearby.

“You okay?” she asked, cupping Nico’s face between her hands, and Nico nodded, breathing heavily.

Karolina sighed in relief, instinctively relaxing into the water, and she let a small smile escape at the sight of Nico’s makeup messily running down her cheeks.

“Well, it’s a good thing the Staff seems to be waterproof,” Nico finally said, sniffing once and clearing her throat. She swiped a hand over her face, smudging her eyeliner like war paint, and then she grinned mischievously. “You know, I’m armed. I could totally beat you in a water fight right now.”

Karolina scoffed and shoved Nico away, strands of her wet hair dripping into her eyes. “You wouldn’t.”

Nico smirked at her, extending the Staff with the top of the circle just poking above the surface of the pool, and Karolina stilled, watching her warily.

“ _Waterbend_ ,” Nico said smugly, and Karolina shrieked as she was buffeted by a wave of water, getting propelled to the other end of the pool.

“Unfair!” she called as she sputtered, planting both feet on the wall of the pool and readying herself to push off. Nico only laughed, running a hand through her hair, and Karolina dove towards her.

 

 

 

Nico blinked groggily as she was woken up by the alert that she was receiving a video call. “Accept,” she yawned, rubbing at her eyes and fumbling to pick up her tablet from her night table, blindly tapping at it to lower the brightness to a manageable level. 

The screen split into four, and Nico sleepily wondered who had called a group WizTalk in the middle of the night.

 Everyone mumbled their greetings, and then Karolina stuck her face closer to the screen and waved once. “Hey! Alright everybody, sorry for the late call, but… I may have made a slight mistake.” 

Nico's irritation eased at the sight of Karolina, but her words brought a new wave of concern.

“What happened?”

“Well, I wanted to practice flying, and since my parents were out I figured I could do it in the backyard as long as I stayed low, you know? They made sure the house was completely paparazzi proof, so there’s no way for any neighbors or anyone else to see in.” 

“Your point?” Gert prodded tiredly, rubbing at her forehead.

“I got a little… carried away,” Karolina said carefully.

“Carried away?” Alex asked unenthusiastically as he adjusted his glasses, the look on his face making it very clear that he was dreading the answer.

“I flew… a bit higher than I meant to?” Karolina replied evasively, and after a moment the others all started talking over each other.

“Okay, okay, everybody shut up!” Nico hissed as loudly as she dared, holding up her tablet. “Shut up. Karolina, what do you mean by a _bit_ higher?” 

Karolina grimaced, rubbing the back of her neck. “I thought it was fine! And then, a couple hours later…” 

There came another notification as Karolina sent them all a link to a YouTube video. Nico clicked it, already dreading what was to come, and she heard the others all doing the same.

The video was dark, some cellphone footage of what looked like the night sky with some kind of tree line bordering the bottom of the frame, and there was a group of people speaking in hushed whispers in the background.

Then a brilliant streak of light cut across the horizon, bursting up into the sky, and the voices exploded into excited yelling, the camera shaking as a hand pointed in amazement.

“Someone caught you on video?!” Nico exclaimed in dismay, pausing the video on a frame of the light shining brightly. Luckily it wasn’t immediately recognizable as a person, the shot too blurry and far away, but having seen Karolina light up in person, it was unmistakably her.

“Yup,” Karolina said meekly, twisting her braid between her fingers as she waited for their reactions. Nico quickly scrolled through some of the comments, and thankfully nobody was yelling about seeing some girl flying through the night.

“Looks like #BrentwoodUFO is about to go viral,” Chase said dryly, and Karolina hid her face in her hands.

 

 

 

Standing in the kitchen, Karolina made a finger gun with one hand, squeezing one eye shut and sticking her tongue out in a comical expression as she carefully aimed at the pot bubbling on the stove. Her bracelet was lying on the counter next to her, and Nico tried not to let herself get distracted by her lights.

“You sure you can do this?” she asked warily, remembering the last time Karolina had tried to use her powers indoors.

“Don’t worry, I’ve been practicing,” Karolina said confidently, holding her arm steady, “I got this.” 

Nico grimaced doubtfully as Karolina took a deep breath, and then she shot a beam of light from the tip of her finger. 

And that was when the pot burst into flames.

Karolina stumbled backwards in panic, and Nico lunged for the Staff where it was poking out of her bag lying on the table. She pulled it out and turned towards the stove, pricking her finger to fully extend the Staff and planting it solidly on the ground.

“ _Extinguish_ ,” she commanded without hesitation, and the fire was snuffed out in seconds.

They both heaved identical sighs of relief, and then the pot exploded, splattering pasta sauce across the kitchen.

Nico was knocked backwards with the force of it, falling over a kitchen chair, and Karolina collided with something and hit the ground with a thump beside her. She felt the Staff slip from her fingers and clatter to the floor, but paid it no mind as she instinctively tried to lift her arms and shield her face.

Thankfully, none of the sauce managed to reach her, and she lowered her arms hesitantly.

“That – that was my bad,” Karolina lifted her hand up, “Sorry.” 

Nico sighed, “No, no, I definitely helped. We both screwed up. Again.” 

“I’m so tired,” Karolina groaned from where she was splayed out flat on her back on the kitchen floor, and Nico had to agree.

“We should probably clean this up before your parents get back too,” she told her with a sigh, and Karolina grumbled.

“Why does this only happen to us,” she whined, rubbing a hand over her face as she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, “The others don’t ever have this much trouble, and Gert has a _dinosaur_.” 

The remains of what was supposed to be their dinner was splattered all over the room, and Nico sighed again.

“How do we feel about pizza?” she asked as she got to her feet, stretching her neck out and glancing at Karolina, already on her feet as she brushed herself off.

“Sounds good,” she agreed, snapping on her bracelet and giving Nico a rueful smile, and she moved towards Nico’s abandoned staff. “Here, let me get it.”

“No, wait, don’t – ” Nico reached out a hand, but she was too late to stop Karolina from bending down and picking up the Staff. She cringed, waiting for it to shock Karolina like it had Alex, but all Karolina did was give her a weird look, showing no signs of discomfort as she held it easily.

“What?” she asked, and Nico blinked in surprise.

“Oh… nothing, I guess.” Nico took a step closer, “It looks like the Staff likes you.”

“Yeah?” Karolina asked, glancing down at the Staff in her hand, “Well, I guess that’s good.” 

“Yeah,” Nico murmured, taking one last step closer so she was standing right in front of her. She looked up to meet Karolina’s wide eyes, mesmerizing even though she wasn’t lit up. “That’s good.”

Karolina bit her lip, and Nico’s eyes were automatically drawn to it, eyes flickering back up to see Karolina’s now hooded gaze. “I mean…” Nico whispered, slowly leaning closer, “You’re very easy to like.”

As if her hand had a mind of it’s own, she reached out to rest it against the side of Karolina’s neck, her thumb brushing against the line of her jaw, and Nico tried to keep her breathing steady. With her other hand she reached for the Staff, intending to put it safely out of harms way before anything else happened, but as soon as she wrapped her hand around it she felt a shock run through the palm of her hand and up her arm. The way Karolina jumped told her she had felt it too, and Nico furrowed her brow in confusion.

“That was weird,” she commented, hoping she didn’t sound too breathless, and Karolina only shrugged, still holding her gaze. She moved to put it down, but stopped when Karolina stretched her arm out to move with her instead of letting it go.

“Uh, Nico?” Karolina said in confusion, tugging her arm back, “I can’t – I can’t let go.”

That got Nico to tear her attention away from her face, and she looked down, watching Karolina try to pry her own fingers off with her other hand.

“You’re kidding me,” Nico said flatly, tugging at her hand again and not being able to budge a single finger either.

They stood in front of each other, each with one hand stuck to the Staff, and Nico facepalmed. “What do you want,” she complained, lifting the Staff to glare at it. It might have been her imagination, but she thought she saw the Staff pulse brighter for a second in response.

“Nico,” Karolina said softly, ducking her head to catch her eye, “Before you do that…” She touched her fingers to her cheek in a gentle motion, turning her face towards her, and then she leaned forward to kiss her.

Nico’s eyes slipped shut, and she didn’t let Karolina pull away, curling her hand in the material of Karolina’s collar and keeping her where she was. Karolina made a surprised noise but didn’t protest, kissing her more firmly, and neither of them noticed when the Staff fell from their hands.

A stream of confetti shot out of it as soon as it hit the floor, and they both yelped, jumping apart in surprise.

“Why!” Nico exclaimed as she bent to scoop up the Staff, retracting it and shoving it back into her bag with a huff. She blew some confetti out of her face and turned back, settling once she was facing Karolina.

Karolina had dark lipstick smeared on her face, but she was giggling, lifting a hand to cover her mouth. “You have got to learn how to control that thing,” she said affectionately, reaching out for Nico’s hand. She laced their fingers and drew her close, and Nico laughed as well, stepping forward as the confetti continued to flutter through the air.

“Yeah, I really do,” she murmured, picking a piece of colored confetti out of Karolina’s hair. “But that’s for later. I’m busy now.”

“Oh?” Karolina quirked an eyebrow and waved more errant confetti away, smile playing on her lips, “And what are you doing right now?”

Nico wrapped her arm around Karolina’s neck instead of answering. “This,” she whispered, pulling her down for another kiss, and neither of them paid any mind to the rest of the confetti falling around them.

 


End file.
